Chapter 1759

Hu Xiaotian said: "Heaven's secrets must not be leaked."

At this moment, the moths on Old Monster Bei Ze's body had flown away, leaving only the insect armor formed by the Iron Thread Golden Gang worms still protecting him, proving that although Old Monster Bei Ze had relaxed his vigilance, he still dared not completely lower his guard.

Hu Xiaotian yawned, found a dry spot, and lay down directly: "You're not sleepy, but I am; if the sky falls, I'll hold it up. Let's talk after I wake up tomorrow."

Old Monster Bei Ze was both laughing and crying: "What does 'if the sky falls, I'll hold it up' mean? Does this guy actually have a way?" He still wanted to ask further, but Hu Xiaotian let out a faint snore.

Old Monster Bei Ze sat cross-legged, his eyes fixed firmly on Hu Xiaotian, wondering whether this guy was really asleep or pretending.

Throughout the night Old Monster Bei Ze could not rest, but Hu Xiaotian slept soundly; only when sunlight filtered through the lake water and illuminated the depths of this bone‑melting prison did Hu Xiaotian finally yawn loudly and slowly sit up.

Old Monster Bei Ze sat opposite, leaning against the wall, staring blankly at Hu Xiaotian, while the Iron Thread Golden Gang worms crawled over his body.

Hu Xiaotian smiled at him and said: "Morning! Did you sleep well last night?"

Old Monster Bei Ze snorted coldly; he hadn't slept at all, and he took Hu Xiaotian's words as a mockery of himself.

Hu Xiaotian said: "I had a nightmare, dreaming that you attacked me while I was deep asleep! You let lots of poisonous insects bite me."

Old Monster Bei Ze rolled his eyes, fuming without speaking, yet inwardly he sighed: "I painstakingly raised the five‑colored spider king, you killed it and ate its inner core; now you are completely immune to all poisons—what poisonous insect would dare approach you?"

Hu Xiaotian stretched lazily and said: "Actually, think about it—you're a senior expert; someone of your stature as a sect master would surely value your reputation and wouldn't do such a shady thing, right?"

Old Monster Bei Ze grunted, his eyes fixed on the shimmering water above; he wasn't unwilling to kill Hu Xiaotian, but all night his mind went back and forth considering whether to sneak‑attack Hu Xiaotian while he slept. Yet their previous clashes had shown him he was no match for this kid; his forte was poison, and against Hu Xiaotian, who is completely immune to all poisons, he had no advantage whatsoever. Moreover, now they share the same boat—even if he killed Hu Xiaotian, he couldn't escape from this bone‑melting prison. Old Monster Bei Ze has now completely calmed down; with calmness comes reason, and for the present the only option is to temporarily join forces with Hu Xiaotian, perhaps finding a way out.

Old Monster Bei Ze whispered: "Do you have a way to escape from here?"

Hu Xiaotian shook his neck, deliberately ignored him, then slowly rose, kicked his legs and bent his waist, stretching his body.

Old Monster Bei Ze sneered: "I don't think you have any way either."

Hu Xiaotian couldn't help laughing; Old Monster Bei Ze actually used the goading tactic—what a cunning old fox. He pointed upward and said: "Outside is just the lake water, right? If we break this crystal dome, we can swim into the lake—wouldn't that let us escape?"

Old Monster Bei Ze, hearing him actually propose this method, looked scornful: "Do you know how thick this crystal wall is? At least two zhang wide, and harder than metal and stone." He borrowed a longsword from Hu Xiaotian, leapt into the air, and brought it down with full force on the crystal dome—clang! —the crystal dome suffered no damage, while the sword, unable to withstand the tremendous impact, had its edge dulled.

Old Monster Bei Ze returned the longsword to Hu Xiaotian; Hu Xiaotian took it, examined the blade, and saw that the part that had contacted the crystal wall was already curled. Old Monster Bei Ze had not exaggerated. Hu Xiaotian secretly thought: Even if this crystal wall is two zhang thick, using a light sword I could still cut a passage.

However, Hu Xiaotian wouldn't resort to that until the last step. This time he came to the Wuxian Sect's main altar, using the Heaven‑Myriad Forms Diagram as bait. The sect leader, Lady Meizhuang, once teamed up with Ren Tianqing in the Sword Palace to try to seize the Heaven‑Myriad Forms Diagram; although they ultimately fell short, Hu Xiaotian still believes they won't give up just like that.

Rong Shi lured him into the bone‑melting prison; whether it was the sect leader's order or a personal grudge is still unclear, but Hu Xiaotian believes they would never simply leave him trapped there unheeded; the sect leader will surely show up sooner or later.

Hu Xiaotian tossed the bent longsword aside and whispered: "I'm getting hungry."

Old Monster Bei Ze said: "There's no water or food here; if you want to try the taste of moths, I can get you some."

Hu Xiaotian laughed; at least from those words he could sense Old Monster Bei Ze's sincerity in cooperating. He shook his head and said: "You'd better keep those for yourself; I can't stomach them."

Old Monster Bei Ze looked at Hu Xiaotian's back with a strange expression: if one doesn't eat or drink, no matter how great his abilities, he'd only last a few days—could he already have a way to escape alive?

Rong Shi's voice came from all directions: "Young Master Hu, did you pass the night peacefully?"

Hu Xiaotian burst out laughing: "Thanks to you, I slept wonderfully last night, and there was a senior expert standing guard for me—I really have to thank you."

Rong Shi also chuckled: "Last night was just the beginning; if you don't hand over the Heaven‑Myriad Forms Diagram, you'll spend the rest of your life keeping company with that senior expert."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Rong Shi, even if I hand it over, I must personally give it to the Wuxian Sect leader; if I gave the diagram to you, who knows you wouldn't pocket it for yourself?"

Rong Shi said: "I'll give you three days to consider; if you refuse to hand over the Heaven‑Myriad Forms Diagram, you'll never get another chance."

Everything fell silent again; Old Monster Bei Ze leaned over to Hu Xiaotian: "Heaven‑Myriad Forms Diagram? What is that?"

Hu Xiaotian glared at him: "What's it to you?"

If it were the past, Old Monster Bei Ze would surely fly into a rage, even risking his life to fight Hu Xiaotian to the death; but now he seems to have realized that fighting Hu Xiaotian here is pointless. Yet he manages to restrain his temper, giving a sneering laugh: "Young people, don't be so hot‑headed, and still talking about sharing the same boat—you're utterly lacking in sincerity."

Hu Xiaotian almost laughed despite being provoked by Old Monster Bei Ze; he sighed: "It's not that I won't tell you—I myself don't even know what the Heaven‑Myriad Forms Diagram actually is."

Old Monster Bei Ze said: "Why don't you let me have a look?"

Hu Xiaotian laughed: "Do you think I'd carry around something so important?"

Old Monster Bei Ze sucked in a breath of cold air; although he also didn't know what the Heaven‑Myriad Forms Diagram was, he could glean some hint from Rong Shi's earlier words: the Wuxian Sect surely wants to obtain that diagram from Hu Xiaotian's hands. In other words, if Hu Xiaotian isn't carrying the diagram on him, he would have no bargaining chip left, and a look of disappointment appeared on his face.

Hu Xiaotian sent a mental transmission: "In this place, it seems everything is under their surveillance; is there anywhere we can hide from their sight?"

Old Monster Bei Ze nodded and likewise sent a mental transmission: "The outer passage should work, and the cave where I practice cultivation is also suitable."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Let's go to the cave to talk."

The two walked toward the cave; upon entering, Hu Xiaotian suddenly wondered how this cave had formed. After asking, he learned that it was when Old Monster Bei Ze had just been trapped here that he used the Iron Thread Golden Gang worms to bore through the rock layers—but once the worms reached this depth, the rock became extraordinarily hard, preventing any further progress, showing that Old Monster Bei Ze had also put great effort into trying to escape, yet in the end all his attempts came to nothing.

Hu Xiaotian crouched, reached out and patted the bottom of the cave; the texture felt very strange, not like rock. By the light of the Night Pearl, the bottom appeared gunmetal gray. From the echo of the taps, it seemed the space underneath was hollow and not too thick.

Hu Xiaotian told Old Monster Bei Ze his finding; Old Monster Bei Ze replied: "I had noticed it long ago, and thought I could smash through it, but I've tried every method and still can't pierce it—not even leave a trace. I've never seen a material this hard before; not even black‑gold mystic iron could reach this level."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Have you ever seen a toad bigger than a calf? Or a snake as long as a dragon?"

Old Monster Bei Ze, questioned thus, fell silent. Before being confined in the bone‑melting prison, he had thought himself well‑versed, especially in the use of poisonous creatures—unmatched in the world. Only after being trapped here did he realize that compared to the Wuxian Sect, the Banmen Sect is merely a petty witch before a great sorcerer. Setting aside other matters, just the poisonous creatures seen in this prison—many are ones he had never seen before, never even heard of. He couldn't help but sigh dejectedly: "I now realize that all along I have been like a frog in a well."

Hu Xiaotian shook his head: "It's not that you're a frog in a well; it's that some things simply shouldn't exist in this world."

Old Monster Bei Ze said: "He gave you three days to consider; if you can't meet their demands, they'll likely resort to extreme measures against us in three days." Unbeknownst to himself, he and Hu Xiaotian had already formed a united front against the common enemy.

Hu Xiaotian said: "So we can't just sit and wait for death."

Old Monster Bei Ze thought to himself: "This guy only talks big; we're trapped in this bone‑melting prison and can't leave—aside from sitting and waiting for death, what other option is there?" He had wanted to jeer a few words, but upon reaching his lips he felt it meaningless, and he whispered a suggestion: "If you have the Heaven‑Myriad Forms Diagram on you, you might pretendedly agree to give it to them, ask for a face‑to‑face exchange, and then seize the chance to break out." (To be continued~^~)